Gov. Roy Cooper vetoes a bill that would fund private school vouchers on Sept. 20, 2024. (Christine Zhu/NC Newsline)
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill Friday that would dramatically expand funding for the state’s controversial private school voucher program. The Republican-dominated state legislature approved the measure last week.
House Bill 10, which GOP legislative leaders spent months negotiating, allocates $5 billion over the next decade to the voucher program. The plan would eliminate a waitlist of around 54,000 students seeking vouchers to attend private schools.
The bill — which GOP leaders described as a “mini-budget” — also requires cooperation between all North Carolina sheriffs and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and allocates new funding for the state Medicaid program, rural broadband, and enrollment growth in public schools and community colleges.
Cooper defended his veto decision during a press conference at the Executive Mansion by saying the legislation would divert public taxpayer dollars from public schools to fund private school tuition for wealthy families, thereby posing a danger to public education in North Carolina.
“Private school vouchers are the biggest threat to public schools in decades,” Cooper said.
Mike Hawkins, president of Pisgah Enterprises and former chair of the Transylvania County board of commissioners, joined Cooper at the press conference and said the vouchers would harm rural communities.
With fewer private schools in those areas, students receiving the vouchers would attend school in other counties.
This would remove the “symbiotic relationship” between public schools and rural communities, according to Hawkins.
He said public schools are one of the two cornerstones of rural life in North Carolina, with the other being faith. Rural areas center around the public school community and the faith community.
“Threats to public schools threaten not just the public schools, but they threaten the very fabric of rural life in North Carolina,” Hawkins said.
While the governor focused his explanation on vetoing House Bill 10 around its impact on public education, he also noted that he’s vetoed versions of the ICE cooperation portion of the bill a number of times in past years.
Cooper was also asked at the event about the controversy surrounding yesterday’s CNN report that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, referred to himself as a “black NAZI,” a “perv” and said, “slavery is not bad,” in messages posted on a pornography website more than a decade ago.
“The people of North Carolina need to take notice of the fact that the Republican leaders, people who are running for office have continued to support him,” Cooper said.
Advocates welcome veto
Friday’s veto drew swift approval from the state’s largest teacher’s organization and immigrant advocates.
In an emailed statement, the North Carolina Association of Educators said:
A statement from the immigrant rights nonprofit El Pueblo stated:
Both groups added pleas to state lawmakers to reconsider their approval of the bill. Since Republicans gained a supermajority in both houses of the legislature last year, however, all of Cooper’s vetoes have been overridden. The state legislature is scheduled to convene next on Oct. 9.